IdeaSphere

Mondays, 1:30 PM - 2:00 PM

This weekly show, produced and hosted by Guy Rathbun, is devoted to political, social, economic, ecological, philosophical and religious ideas.

The series has been broadcast on KCBX, and podcast on NPR.org for the past 10 years. It has included such luminaries as Robert Reich, Chris Hedges, Michael K. Hudson, Vincent Buligosi, Richard Heinberg, and many more.

Lawyer, cattle rancher and vegetarian, Nicolette Hahn Niman, counters arguments we’ve heard for decades. That red meat is bad for us, and our environment. Her book is an indictment of many aspects of the modern diet and culture.

Veterans heal themselves by working with nature. That’s the finding of researcher, Stephanie Westlund. Her recent studies have revealed the deep connection between nature and human health. She’ll share what she’s learned with host, Guy Rathbun.

Twelve years ago, David Rose designed a frosted glass sphere programmed to track any kind of data. He called it the Ambient Orb. Now he provides insight into the promise of tomorrow’s technology in his book, Enchanted Objects.

According to visionary, Andrew Cohen, Evolutionary Enlightenment is not simply repackaging ancient wisdom for the modern world. Its central tenet is that a more enlightened future for our world depends solely our higher development.

Journalist Peter Ladner says our reliance on industrial agriculture has made us vulnerable to rising prices and a food supply riddled with hidden environmental, economic, and health care costs. But he believes that communities have all the necessary ingredients to ensure that local, fresh, sustainable food is affordable and widely available.

According to Dr. Richard Deyo, the multi-million dollar back pain industry may be doing more harm than good. Deyo’s book, Watch Your Back, discusses how the back pain industry is costing people more and how to become informed about the industry.

Karen Bonnell, provides an insightful look at the challenges of raising children in two homes. Bonnell and co-author, Kristin Little, address parents’ questions about the emotional impact of separation, conflict grief and recovery. Their book, The Co-Parents’ Handbook.

Author and former football fan Steve Almond speaks out against American’s favorite pastime. It’s not just the issue of brain damage to players that is disturbing; Almond says, it’s also the deep-seated passion for violence that pervades our society.

Almond argues that by watching, cheering, and participating in football culture, we are all complicit in the damage it wreaks even as it “legitimizes and even fosters within us a tolerance for violence, greed, racism and homophobia."

In his book Against Football: One Fan’s Reluctant Manifesto, Almond looks at the impact, literally life-and-death issues, that cannot be ignored in any discussion about the sport.

According to political science professor Peter Mathews corporations and lobbyists are dominating American Democracy. He says this has resulted in a shift in government over the past few decades. The U.S. has the greatest gap between the rich and poor since the Great Depression.

More women served in Iraq and Afghanistan than any other war, yet their role has been hotly debated. In her book, “Soldier Girls,” writer Helen Thorpe details what really happened to three women who served in the military during the last decade.

When most Americans look into their ancestries, they don’t want to see a negative side that includes slavery. In his book, Tomlinson Hill, journalist Chris Tomlinson exposes his family's past, and the problematic history of racial relations in America.

Julia Schopick’s book, Honest Medicine, is the result of a very personal experience: her husband died of a brain tumor. From that experience, Scholpick made it her goal to inform others about the dangers of following the pharmaceutical (“Big Pharma” ) path.

Suicide rates in the U.S. are rising sharply. In her book, Stay: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It, poet and historian, Jennifer Michael Hecht, searches for history’s most persuasive arguments against the irretrievable act.

Americans spend nearly ten times more to imprison a child then we would to educate them. In her book, Burning Down the House, Nell Bernstein reveals that we are risking the future of a third of our children.

Explosion Green: When David Gottfried came up with an idea for green environmental building 20 years ago, he ran into a number of hurdles. The building industry had been doing what they did for decades. Why change? It’s taken another two decades, but changes have been made.

A Wall Street trader who sees stock activity a millisecond in advance has a distinct advantage. Securities finance expert, Scott Skyrm, examines the plethora of scam stock marketers over the last 40-years in his book, Rogue Traders.

Resister: When Bruce Dancis enrolled at Cornell University in 1965, he had no idea he’d become a national figure by becoming the first student to destroy his draft card. His book titled “Resister,” tells the story of his exploits from serving 19-months in prison to respected professional journalist.